Chloe blinked. ‘And where did you find money?’
Aggie shrank back in her chair, her eyes huge. ‘Your money-box?’
‘Quick thinking,’ Christian said smoothly, grabbing his coat and lifting Aggie into his arms. ‘We’re going home now. Lara is going to come with us.’
‘Will she wear her fairy costume? Can we play dressing-up?’
Lara noticed the grim set of Christian’s mouth and knew how upset he was. ‘Dressing-up is my favourite game,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Will you do my make-up?’
* * *
Christian leaned against the kitchen door with his eyes closed, willing his problems to magically disappear.
In the past two hours he’d sobered up the nanny, fired her and lodged a formal complaint with the agency. Now he just had to work out how to reorganise his life so that he could work and look after his daughters.
‘Christian?’
He opened his eyes to find Lara standing in front of him. She’d done such a good job of occupying the children, he’d forgotten that he wasn’t alone in the house. ‘Thank you for keeping them out of the way while I dealt with that.’ His eyes slid over her. She was wearing a tiara and there were two large scarlet streaks on her cheeks. ‘What happened to you?’
She grinned. ‘Aggie happened to me. We’re playing princesses. Which involves lots of makeup. If you think this is bad, you should see what she did to Chloe. I’ll say this for her, your elder daughter is very long-suffering.’
He eyed the red streaks on her face. ‘You look as though you need a maxillary facial surgeon.’
‘That’s just the blusher she used. Apparently princesses always have rosy cheeks.’ She glanced around her and he saw her looking at the boxes.
‘I was hoping that the nanny would help to unpack the last of the boxes,’ he said, wondering why he was explaining himself to her. What did it matter what she thought? ‘I’ve only done the important ones.’
‘You did Aggie’s bedroom. It’s so pretty. Like a fairy grotto.’
‘She loves everything pink, as I’m sure you noticed, and I wanted her to feel at home as quickly as possible. I should have done Chloe’s, too, but she’s older and…’ He shrugged, wondering with a pang of guilt whether he’d been neglecting his elder daughter. ‘Chloe never complains.’
‘She’s a sweet-natured girl.’ Lara reached out and touched his arm, her expression concerned. ‘Are you all right? You haven’t had the best day.’
Her touch seemed to connect with every nerve ending in his body and he tensed, battling with an astonishingly powerful desire to haul her against him and bring his mouth down on hers. He was entirely confident that a couple of hours naked with Lara would make his problems considerably less important.
But that wasn’t an option.
Reminding himself that he was a father with responsibilities, one of which was not indulging his own fantasies, he took a step back from her, wishing he hadn’t noticed the thickness of her lashes and the softness of her mouth.
A vision of her in her fairy costume sprang into his head and he ran a hand over the back of his neck and prowled across the kitchen, putting some distance between them. With a considerable effort, he turned his mind back to the reality of his life. ‘She was drunk, Lara.’
‘I know.’
He turned to face her, a surge of helpless anger engulfing his attempt at calm. ‘I left my children with a drunk.’
‘No, you didn’t. You left your children with a nanny recommended by a reputable agency.’ Lara’s voice was steady. ‘If anyone is to blame, it’s them.’
‘Maybe. I still feel responsible. It means more change and upheaval for the girls and they’ve already had enough. I won’t be using that agency again, that’s for sure. Which gives me a problem because none of the other agencies have anyone available right now. Apparently no one changes jobs three weeks from Christmas. Aggie’s right. What we need around here is a miracle.’
Deeply worried about his children, he paced across to the window and stared across the huge garden that stretched behind the house. Snow was fluttering down from a grey, wintry sky, settling on the grass like icing sugar, and the holly tree was crowded with bright red berries. The house was beautiful. It was just a shame that he hadn’t had time to turn it into a home. ‘I need to get on the phone and call every agency in London. But I keep thinking that I don’t want to leave them with anyone.’ That had never been what he wanted for his children. ‘If Aggie hadn’t shown such common sense…’ He broke off, still dealing with the enormity of what could have happened to his girls.
‘But she did. And that’s reassuring, isn’t it? Despite her age, she’s obviously very sensible and practical. That must make you very proud of her. Of both of them. They’re gorgeous children.’
‘And they deserve better than this. They’ve been through hell and they need stability.’
‘I have a solution. I should have thought of it a week ago when I first saw you in the grotto. I can do it.’
‘You can do what?’